Evaluation of the Ticket to Work Program, Implementation ...

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92Finally, the real and perceived work disincentives inherent in the SSI and DI benefitssystems make it unlikely that most beneficiaries will pursue full-time work in lieu of benefits.EN representatives stated that many beneficiaries would not earn enough from full-timework to counter a loss in benefits, would not be able to obtain sufficient medical coverage,or would have difficulty sustaining full-time work because of the nature of their disability.Indications are that the TTW program is not likely to succeed without broader benefitsreforms.V: EN Participation in Ticket to Work
C HAPTER VIS TATE V OCATIONAL R EHABILITATIONA GENCY P ARTICIPATIONIN T ICKET TO W ORKSVRA dominance in TTW suggests that the program has prompted little change in thedelivery of services to beneficiaries. SVRAs were virtually the only providers receivingSSA funding for employment support services before TTW, and they remain thedominant providers. In particular, over 90 percent of Ticket assignments have been made toSVRAs, which continue to rely on the traditional payment system for the overwhelmingmajority of clients. Thus, most beneficiaries participating in TTW are doing so underconditions that are essentially unchanged from before program rollout. In addition, mostSVRAs we interviewed report that they are now serving beneficiaries who are similar tobeneficiaries served in the past in terms of characteristics and backgrounds. Further, SVRAsdo not appear to have changed the mix or intensity of services provided to beneficiaries. Asexplained in the initial evaluation report, SVRA officials tend to view TTW as a newpayment system that imposes some additional administrative requirements but has littleeffect on current service delivery efforts.There are, however, a few noteworthy changes. Some SVRAs report an increasedrecognition of the complexity of SSA’s program rules and work incentives and of the needto understand the difficult personal and financial decisions made by beneficiaries as theyattempt to find a job. A number of SVRAs routinely refer beneficiaries to local BPAOs toensure that they receive accurate information about the effect of employment on theirfinancial and health care benefits. In addition, a few SVRAs are expanding their capacity toprovide this information themselves or identifying outside individuals or organizations thatcan do so.While SVRA participation in TTW remains strong, there is some evidence that SVRAs’interest in TTW may have waned in recent months. SVRAs appear to have become lessaggressive about obtaining assignments from their beneficiary clients. This is most evidentin the Phase 2 states, where the beneficiary participation rate at SVRAs is well below the ratein Phase 1 states at the comparable point in the Phase 1 rollout. It also appears that Phase 1SVRAs are obtaining fewer assignments than a year or so earlier. Our analysis of SVRA dataon case closures suggests that the lower TTW participation rate is not related to the fact thatSVRAs are serving fewer beneficiaries. It appears, instead, that SVRAs have reduced their
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A CKNOWLEDGMENTSThe Ticket To Work
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viiiChapterVI(CONTINUED)PageF. SUMM
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xChapterPageAPPENDIX A: TICKET TO W
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xiiTableVIII.3IX.1IX.2IX.3IX.4IX.5I
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xivFigureIII.5III.6III.7III.8III.9P
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xviIX.3EARNINGS OF BENEFICIARIES WI
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xviiiMIENBSNPRMOAGPABSSPSUSGASSASSI
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xxIn Phase 3, which began in Novemb
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xxiigroups of beneficiaries that Co
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xxivimprove TTW, therefore, is to f
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2of disability beneficiaries, and i
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4country. Phase 2 began in November
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Page Is Intentionally Left Blank to
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8Only a few beneficiary characteris
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10Figure II.2.Participation Rate, b
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12Figure II.4.First Assignments at
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14before Ticket, it is perhaps surp
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16was selected for Phase 3. This ma
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18All of the statistics in this sec
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Table II.2. Beneficiary Groups with
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22In all Phase 1 and Phase 2 states
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24Figure II.8. Ticket Participation
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26Adjustments for all other charact
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28In general, provider and payment
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30next report, we will conduct more
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32Figure III.2.Living Arrangements
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34• Less likely to have reported
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36Figure III.7.Prevalence of Diffic
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38are more likely than all benefici
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40Table III.1.Income and Program Pa
Page 66 and 67: 42coverage through their own employ
Page 68 and 69: 44sizable percentage of TTW partici
Page 70 and 71: 46Overall, 9 percent of working-age
Page 72 and 73: 48leave the rolls in the next year,
Page 74 and 75: 50next year and in the next five ye
Page 76 and 77: 52in their characteristics, levels
Page 78 and 79: 54percentage points to 3.7 percent.
Page 80 and 81: 56Figure IV.2. Phase 1 Ticket Recip
Page 82 and 83: 58situation described in the preced
Page 84 and 85: 60the end of the follow-up period w
Page 86 and 87: 62Figure IV.6. Average Monthly Bene
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Page 90 and 91: 66ENs were reluctant to expand serv
Page 92 and 93: 68As of July 2004, there were about
Page 94 and 95: 70But most EN representatives saw T
Page 96 and 97: 72Figure V.2. Number of EN Terminat
Page 98 and 99: 74received a total of just about $2
Page 100 and 101: 76Relatively few ENs have received
Page 102 and 103: 78According to their representative
Page 104 and 105: 80Five EN officials recognized that
Page 106 and 107: 82This was particularly true for so
Page 108 and 109: 84• Another EN representative fou
Page 110 and 111: 86• A third EN received 50 calls
Page 112 and 113: 88resolve administrative issues suc
Page 114 and 115: 90• Raise payments for SSI benefi
Page 118 and 119: 94efforts to obtain Ticket assignme
Page 120 and 121: 96SSA payments to SVRAs under the T
Page 122 and 123: 98Figure VI.3. Total SSA Payments t
Page 124 and 125: 100assigning their Tickets to ENs (
Page 126 and 127: 102Table VI.1. SVRA Ticket Assignme
Page 128 and 129: 104case, the counselor selects the
Page 130 and 131: 106• Most of the agreements requi
Page 132 and 133: 108needs of SSA beneficiaries and,
Page 134 and 135: 110to the SVRA under the traditiona
Page 136 and 137: 112Tickets each month from November
Page 138 and 139: 114about submitting virtually ident
Page 140 and 141: 116To make EN recruiting efforts mo
Page 142 and 143: 118E. EN ENROLLMENTThe Program Mana
Page 144 and 145: 120beneficiaries who have achieved
Page 146 and 147: 122quarterly basis if they have rec
Page 148 and 149: 124SSA’s approval of systems spec
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Page 152 and 153: 128have accepted. But even at that
Page 154 and 155: 130For beneficiaries who express an
Page 156 and 157: 132rehabilitation counselors (Burea
Page 158 and 159: 134generated a payment to an EN gen
Page 160 and 161: 136the milestone-outcome payment ge
Page 162 and 163: 138system is used so infrequently t
Page 164 and 165: 140One option is for ENs to try to
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142approximations. Our planned anal
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144Figure IX.1. Ticket-Eligible Ben
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146Table IX.2.TTW Participation Rat
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148Figure IX.3. Earnings of Benefic
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150Compared with other beneficiarie
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152Like all other beneficiaries who
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This kind of mixed success in the e
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C. SVRA PARTICIPATION REMAINS STRON
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serving beneficiaries who are simil
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observe changes in their employment
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Mashaw, Jerry L., and Virginia P. R
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A-2Table A.1 (continued)Time Period
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Table B.1. DefinitionsB-2Variable D
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Table B.1 (continued)B-4Variable De
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Table B.1 (continued)Variable Defin
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B-8Table B.3. Participation Rate by
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B-10C. PARTICIPATION RATES BY BENEF
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Table B.6. Participation Rates by C
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Table B.6 (continued)Group Definiti
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Table B.6 (continued)B-16Group Defi
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C-2survey. Whenever possible, the i
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C-4given the large number of benefi
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C-6• Young SSI recipients who are
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C-8beneficiary may have had with EN
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C-10Table C.2. Overview of the Nati
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C-12Sample completes (n=1,178) and
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C.14Table C.3 (continued)AllIntervi
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C.16Table C.5. Final Weighted and U
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C.18Table C.7. Sociodemographic Cha
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C.20Table C.9. Health Status (Figur
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C.22Table C.11. Program Participati
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C.24Table C.14. Awareness of TTW (F
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C.26Table C.16. Employment Expectat
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D-2Table D.1. Selected Characterist
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D-4information from two pretest int
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